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Bristol Opening Doors Goes Around the World

Australia, China, Egypt, India and the United States: what do these countries have in common with Bristol Opening Doors?

Nearly six hundred people from these countries and the UK have downloaded the Bristol Opening Doors free smartphone app since its launch in April, that’s what!

We love the thought of so many local and international visitors using the app to discover Bristol, listening to the unique stories of the people who’ve helped design, lived or worked in the ten featured buildings. You can view photos, which take you behind the doors of the buildings not usually open to the public and read key facts.

Hold Bristol in the palm of your hand as you explore the city streets, using the app’s enhanced content to discover the buildings in greater detail, either on its own or as a companion to the printed walking trail.

Stand outside the Exchange as you hear stories of how the merchants used to conduct business, fuelled by coffee, sherry and tobacco or find out what lies beneath Horizon House on Deanery Road.

Soak up the knowledge of local experts and enthusiasts as they tell you stories about and recount their memories of the buildings that you won’t hear elsewhere.

Wherever you are in the world, the Bristol Opening Doors app enables you to discover our fascinating and lively city.

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School Visit to the Bristol Heart Institute

To celebrate Bristol Doors Open Day 2014, the Architecture Centre organised a visit to the Bristol Heart Institute (BHI) for Year 12 and 13 Product Design students from St Mary Redcliffe & Temple School. The students were treated to talks by Jane Newson, Director at public art consultants Willis Newson and Craig Bennett, Project Architect at Coda Architects, where they shared their experiences of working on the project and offered invaluable careers advice to the group, inspiring the next generation of architects and designers.

The BHI was a unique project, with the client, architect and art consultants working in close collaboration. Willis Newson brought together artists, local school and community members, patients and staff to create artworks which are on display in the public areas, walkways, lifts, and the exterior of the building.

Coda Architects worked with the client, the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, and staff to address their very specific needs: hygiene, access and patient care were key requirements of both the building design and development of the artworks.

Walter Jack’s Endless Rings sculpture in the atrium

Highlights included Craig Bennett’s tour of the central atrium and stairwell, which feature much of the artwork developed and installed by Willis Newson, in collaboration with Coda Architects and construction engineers Laing O’Rourke.

Giving the students the opportunity to hear first hand the experiences of architectural and design professionals enabled them to consider how they might apply this knowledge (understanding the need to include end users in the design process and the design considerations of a brief) to their own coursework in Product Design and future career paths.